Francisco began his career at CODELCO, where he took part in high‑impact initiatives such as the International Caving Study and contributed to the development of in‑house technologies, including preconditioning and continuous mining solutions.
He later joined NCL, where he participated in flagship projects across Latin America, including Alemao (Brazil), Gualcamayo (Argentina), El Teniente, and the Chuquicamata underground mine (Chile). At Chuquicamata Underground, he played a key role in macroblock design and in the conceptualization of the crushing system.
Later, at BHP, he served as Assurance Lead for the Americas, supporting decision‑making in major projects such as Resolution (USA) and Antamina Underground (Peru). He subsequently joined Minera Escondida, where he contributed to the Escondida East Deep characterization plan.
Throughout his career, he has been involved in numerous project evaluations, covering both mining and infrastructure aspects. His experience includes comprehensive scenario analysis, risk assessment, and decision tree development, as well as independent reviews in critical areas.
In parallel, he has driven advances in emerging areas within caving mining, including the understanding of gravity flow, optimization of draw control and selectivity, the integration of automation, and the application of stochastic modeling for option evaluation and decision‑making under uncertainty.
